


Real

by MyNameIsMarkus



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Existential Angst, Existential Crisis, F/F, Has headcanon where Elites live on the surface following 1, Hugging, Mental Breakdown, Office, Splatfest (Splatoon), pre-octo expansion, squid sisters mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:01:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25980289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyNameIsMarkus/pseuds/MyNameIsMarkus
Summary: “Hahahahaha...it’s funny because we’re all living in a simulation and free will is a lie.”Pearl thought Marina's comments were supposed to be comedic. They weren't.
Relationships: Marina/Pearl (Splatoon)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	Real

“Hahahahaha...it’s funny because we’re all living in a simulation and free will is a lie.”  
  
Pearl stopped. That was...just about the last thing thing she expected Marina to say during all this. It was Summer in Inkopolis, the start of a brand new month. And everyone knew what that meant! It was time for another celebration of the city’s freedom and spirit; a Splatfest! Everyone loved Splatfests; the combat, the competition, the sheer scale of the festivities put on. And some, most of all, enjoyed the banter between the band members that did the news slot; Pearl and Marina, Off the Hook. They had been at this for some time, putting on an air of rivalry that was far from real behind the scenes. This time was...different. Marina never said something like that before. It wasn’t in the script, for one. There was a stark silence after that, lasting a few seconds as both processed what exactly had just been said.  
  
Eventually, the Director waved them on to get continue, and Pearl cleared her throat, “A-Anyway! Go to the Terminal in the Square and pick a side, yo! Awright, time for the Turf Stages!”  
  
The Director seemingly satisfied, they went about their map rotations as they always did; Turf, Ranked, League, not Salmon Run this time. Griz had closed shop to mop up all the idiots who couldn’t handle the shifts, it seems. Or at least that was the vibe he gave off. Hmm, bad vibe. Marina went back on script for sure, but there was something about her expression that Pearl couldn’t shake. Marina always had the puppy dog look on her face, but this one looked especially...hollow.  
  
It continued into after the skit was over. Marina got a bit of a talk from the Director, questioned about why she said what she did. Pearl couldn’t hear the answer, but it seemed the Director wasn’t pleased. That was bad. Not “losing the job” bad but it was certainly something that could spiral. And Marina looked worse off for it, too. Pearl sighed, this was something she was going to have to solve herself. Lunch went by quickly, for all their closeness Marina liked to keep to herself during it, scuttled away in the corner with a sandwich and some Eel Grey tea. Pearl didn’t mind, not like they didn’t see each other the rest of the day.   
  
When they got into the office for some quick work, she could see Marina pace around the office, touching things, picking them up and inspecting them. She picked up a stapler, “Looks real...” and placed it back down again. The hollow look was still on her face, but now it only looked worse. Like she was searching for something, desperately. Pearl couldn’t stand aside when her best friend was hurting.  
  
She softly, gingerly approached her, “’Rina?” she said quietly, “You okay?”  
  
Marina jumped with a yelp, turning around to the squid and clearing her throat, “Y-Yeah!” she stammered, eyes darting around the room, “Yeah, I just...you know...”  
  
“You sure?” Pearl pressed on, a sad look on her face, “What you said back there, it was kinda...weird.”  
  
“What, about the simulation thing?” an agitated Marina dismissed the notion with a flick of her wrist, “It’s nothin’, really. Just, a little joke for the people. The boss...didn’t like it.”  
  
“I mean, it WAS a weird joke and all...” Pearl shrugged. She was about to return to her desk to...well, pretend to do more work, but she stopped. Marina had frozen in the middle of the room, hugging herself, shivering violently. Small sobs were escaping her, and she was clearly hyperventilating. A pang of fear rose in the small squid, “...Marina?”  
  
“It’s not...it wasn’t a...” Marina babbled, before dropping to her knees, “I can’t...”   
  
She continued speaking, only now she was babbling what sounded like gibberish. Splayed in an accent she rarely used, at that, often hidden behind another. Pearl panicked and rushed to Marina, shaking her shoulders, “’Rina, you’re speaking Octarian! Not in public! Snap out of it! I...” No luck, Marina kept going, repeating the gibbering like a mantra. Desperate, Pearl turned to one of the Octoling ex-Elites they had picked up as interns, “You, Elite.”  
  
The Elite, dressed in white shirt and blouse, skirt and red tentacles, looked up, “...I mean, better name than K156.”  
  
“WHATEVER!” Pearl shouted, running quickly out of patience, “You speak Octo, don’t you? What’s she saying?”  
  
“Hmm...” the Elite scratched her chin. She got closer to the panicking Marina, listening carefully to her words. She nodded a few times, translating on the fly, “She’s sayin’, uh...’ _Please wake me up from this nightmare. Stop torturing me with this peace. Rip the goggles off. Is any of this even real?_ ’”  
  
“The hell?!” Pearl cried out incredulously, grabbing Marina and shaking her shoulders harder, “’Rina, it’s fine! It’s me! Everything’s fine!”  
  
“IT’S NOT FINE!” Marina suddenly screamed, lashing out and flailing rapidly. Pearl got smacked by one of the flailing limbs and was catapulted to the floor. She got up slowly, keeping her distance from the Octoling. Marina got to shaky feet, looking around at the Inkling and Octoling workers now staring at her. Confused. Possibly judging. She could swear they flickered in and out, red bulbous lumps taking their place. Tears welled in her eyes, “...I gotta get outta here!”  
  
She turned and ran, barrelling out of the office in hysterics. Pearl stood up and called out to her, “’Rina! RINA!” but it was too late. She burst out of the door and was gone. Pearl dropped to her knees in shock, “...I d-...what just...”  
  
“Excuse me, Miss Hime?” the Elite spoke up again, getting close to Pearl’s left side. She looked down, “I may be of further assistance here. Let me explain...”  
  
===  
  
“...That slimeball did all of that?!”  
  
The Elite sighed, looking drowsily at the angry small squid. For the past half hour, she had explained all of the machinations of one DJ Octavio. Ruler of the Octo Valley. She placed her hands in her lap, “All of his anger from losing the war,” she looked sadly at the floor, “He...turned on us. Kept us compliant with the goggles. The awful music. He wanted us under his control...and, we were all aware of it.”  
  
“My Cod...” Pearl gasped, hand clasped to her mouth in shock. “How’ve you guys not gone crazy? What changed?”  
  
“The Inkantation,” the Elite nodded, “It broke the spell. It...saved us. We escaped via Mt. Nantai. Where you met her...” she sighed, pointing to her face, “But not everyone got out so easily. Some had nightmares of the DJ’s music for weeks. Many felt this peace was a lie. That we were in a simulation, waiting to awaken. Many couldn’t take the pressure and rejoined the DJ in his new base in the Canyon. They were the ones to kidnap the Squid Sister.”  
  
“...So that’s where she went...” Pearl mused, before she got to her feet, “Look, I gotta go help her. I gotta go.”  
  
“It will be an undertaking,” the Elite said, still sitting down but slowly digging a small notebook out of her pocket, “We call the condition Balencalo - The Wandering Mind. I have never seen a relapse like this...”  
  
“Then what do I need’ta do?”  
  
“Let her know you are there for her,” the Elite gave the notebook to Pearl, who had a rudimentary flip through it; it was a number of rules and scribbles, seemingly related to this affliction. The Elite gave Pearl some time to read it before she continued, “Remind her that this is reality itself. That the DJ may never be an issue for her again. But above all else...persuade her otherwise of the goggles she feels on her face.”  
  
Pearl dug the book into her own pocket, “...R-Right. Thank you.”  
  
And with that, she turned and walked quickly out of the studio. She was in no rush, she knew where Marina had gone. The same place she always went to when work was too much. The Director screamed after her, but Pearl gave him no mind. He could find some fresh-faced Inko for the news slot for today. Maybe even the Elites, they could do with some screentime. For now, she was going elsewhere.  
  
===  
  
Marina’s apartment. Weird she even had one when A: she made more than enough to have her own place and B: Pearl would happily let her into her massive place whenever she wanted. Especially since this one seemed so...small. Dingy. Even the Squid Sisters had a better apartment than this tiny place and they hadn’t been relevant for two years! She huffed; something was into Marina, and damn if she wasn’t gonna find out what it was and get it out of her! She knocked on the door politely. Nothing. She knocked again. Nothing. She resisted banging on the infernal thing for once - no point coming across as angry - and she simply let herself in.  
  
Yep, this place was sucky. Small, claustrophobic, dark and depressing. All the curtains had been shut, and Marina’s stage clothing had been thrown to the floor and couch, a trail of turned over or broken items leading to...her bedroom, of course. Pearl really didn’t wanna do it like this, but it was this or leave Marina to suffer. And like hell she was gonna do that. She crept up to the bedroom door and knocked on it, “...’Rina?”  
  
Silence. For a few seconds. And then, a soft squeak of a voice, “Pearlie? P-Pearlie is that you? Or is it just another onn’a those twintails?”  
  
“It’s me, ‘Rina...” Pearl said quietly, opening the door slowly and showing herself in the dim light of the doorway, “It’s me...”  
  
Marina’s room was a state. Thrown pillows and duvets everywhere, her cabinet on its side, she herself cowering under what covers remained on the bed. She was in her underwear, Pearl could tell. She blushed with embarrassment, but only for a while; Marina was still clearly in some distress, “H-How can I tell? Are you...real?” she scrunched up further into the covers, “Is anyone real?”  
  
“Marina, it’s okay,” Pearl whispered, taking small, shaky steps forward, hands raised in front of her as a sign of safety. She slowly approached the Octoling, “You’re just, in a bit of shock, yo. You gotta calm down!”  
  
Pearl tripped over a hairbrush, sending her careening forward. Marina panicked and backed up even further, shivering like a leaf, “HOW CAN I CALM DOWN?!” she screamed in fear, tears streaming from her face, “When everything I see is an illusion?! I’m in a simulation, I KNOW I am!   
  
Pearl panicked. Seconds turned to hours in her mind, she could feel the gears in her head turn like crazy figuring out what to do. She remembered what the Elite had said, what was written in the notebook, and a lightbulb went off above her head, “Okay, I got this. ‘Rina, hold still.”  
  
“G-Get away from me, K232!” Marina screamed as Pearl slowly reached in for her face, “WHAT’RE YOU DOING?!”  
  
“Taking your goggles off.”  
  
Pearl grabbed the empty air by Marina’s face, miming having grabbed onto something solid, and slowly began to pull. Marina screamed, “NO!” and grabbed on to Pearl’s arms for dear life. Pearl continued to pull, trying over and over again, stronger and stronger pulls until eventually, she overcame Marina’s strength and wrenched the nothing away from her face. Marina screamed in anguish for a split second...then, stopped. She clasped her hands to her face, feeling for the “goggles” Pearl had just removed. She just felt the silky smooth, albeit now damp skin on her cheeks. She looked around the room. There were no piles of scrap. No half-eaten bowls of moss. No fellow Elites suffering in the dank darkness. It was her room, in her apartment. A slightly smiling Pearl in front of her, discarding the memetic goggles.  
  
“Is this...” Marina warbled, before any sense of composure was absolutely lost, “Oh, PEARLIE!!!” and she jumped forward to hug the spuddy squid with all of her might, wailing like an injured cat all of the while.  
  
“Woah!” Pearl squealed as she was pulled into the hug. She could hear Marina’s relieved sobs, feel her tears slowly drip onto her shoulders. She simply pulled further into the hug, tracing patterns and circles on her back with her finger, “There we go...it’s okay, Rin-Rin. I got you. This is reality...I promise.”  
  
===  
  
An hour passed. Pearl had embraced Marina all of the while, listening intently as her sobs slowly softened into sniffles, and then to nothing at all. She patted her back, running her hands through her silky smooth tentacles, before helping her to get dressed. It was a baggy green tracksuit, far from the Fresh(tm) style that they so often wore, but Pearl didn’t mind. Marina wore so many small, tight, navel-showing costumes anyway, so something more homely and comfortable only served to make her more beautiful in her eyes. They sat on the couch, having turned it to look out of the windows towards the city - Marina’s crummy apartment didn’t exactly have a balcony.  
  
Pearl took a noisy sip from her cup of hot chocolate, “So...what...brought this on?”  
  
“I dunno. It just...happens,” Marina said blankly, staring into her mug of tea, “Sometimes, when the world feels like it’s...fake. That’s what was drummed into us. That any happy life above the Domes, on the surface? It was a lie. It HAD to be a lie. There was no happiness up there, just hatred. Octavio said we were so SAFE down there...” she paused, a tear escaping her eye, leaving an angry Pearl to note that she’d have to pay a visit to this DJ sometime. Marina continued, “And every now and then, that feeling returns. Like I feel I’m still wearing those goggles, and I’m just gonna take ‘em off . And I’d be back in the Domes, bottle of strong scotch on the side. Working on something to make the Inkling Scum suffer. It’s...horrible...” she paused, then turned to Pearl, “How do you know, anyway?”  
  
“K...something, something, told me,” Pearl shrugged, “I don’t think she even had a name.”  
  
“Octavio’s idea...he didn’t think we were worth real names. Mine was K011.”  
  
“I like that name better.”  
  
“Pearlie!”  
  
“Hehe, I’m jokin’, ‘Rina! Jeez...” Pearl attempted to chuckle, but she slowly stopped upon seeing Marina’s face twisted into worry. She swallowed her laugh and cleared her throat, “Sorry...I, probably shouldn’t joke about it. How long have you felt like this?”  
  
“Since...we met on Nantai, I suppose,” Maria mumbled, taking a small sip of her tea, “It all felt like a dream. And it still does, some days. You. And me. The face of entertainment. Helping those escaping the DJ get to the surface. It feels too good to be true. It feels like...well, a dream. One I’m...so scared to wake up from, at any moment. Thrust back into cold reality.”  
  
“Oh, ‘Rina...” Pearl whined, a small tear in her eye. Her hearts HURT for this girl! Why didn’t Marina mention this at all? When it messed her up so deeply inside? She nuzzled into her torso, “Why didn’t you tell me?”  
  
“I didn’t know how you’d take it. Imagine it, you know?” Marina assumed a mock friendly tone, gesturing to the void, “’Hi Pearl, how’re you feeling today? Me? Oh, I’m in crippling anxiety from the idea of my life being a lie and being trapped in a DJ’s fantasy hell from which there is no escape’.”  
  
“...Well at least Marie’s Lessons in Sarcasm worked out for yeh,” Pearl sighed, giggling slightly. She got closer, then brought Marina into a deep hug, “Marina? I’mma tell you right now, here and now. Right now. This...is reality.”  
  
“Is it, though?” Marina wept, “Are you real? Am I real? Am I?”  
  
“...Yes,” Pearl kissed her girlfriend deeply, passionately. She broke for air, staring into Marina’s watering eyes, “Yes you are, ‘Rina. You’re as real as anyone out there. Those Inkos, they’re fake in another way. They’ll dress however, say whatever, anything to get to the top of some food chain. Now that IS virtual, all meaningless. But you, ‘Rina, you’re real. Honest, you know? You’re you. And you love being you. And I love you being you. And you love me loving you being you!” she pointed at the octopus, who pointed at herself in confusion. Pearl shook her head, “The point is, there ain’t no-one like you in the world, Marina. You’re the realest freakin’ person in this town!” she brought her in for another kiss, “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”  
  
“Oh Pearlie...” Marina sighed happily, tears of joy now streaming down her face. She brought Pearl in for a tight hug, nuzzling into her cheek, “Thank you. Cod, I still remember when we first met. On the outskirts of the Valley. On Mount Nantai...”  
  
They embraced, holding each other for what felt like forever. Marina didn’t want to let go of her emotional anchor, her tears still soaking into the small squid’s white and pink dress. Pearl, for her end, let herself be cuddled like a soft toy, if it made Marina happy. But even then, her mind was racing. She was fairly sure this wasn’t the last time this was going to happen. It sounded like this was a common problem...how long had Marina gone without help? Pearl shook her head, there HAD to be a way to demonstrate how real this all was.  
  
“...Say, I gots an idea.”  
  
“Oh?” Marina looked down at Pearl.  
  
“Maybe we could go back to Nantai tomorrow! Just you, me, some fresh new clothes. Go back to where it all started. No phones, no tests. Might even make a new friend up there! That sound good to you?” Pearl grinned.  
  
“...Yeah...” Marina looked up into the air, smiling vividly, “Yeah. Sounds good.”  
  
“Cool. I’ll get to pickin’ out the clothes,” Pearl chuckled, trying to wrench free. But, she couldn’t. Marina’s grip on her was still tight. Pearl sighed. Figured, she was still quite upset at the moment, no matter the smiles. Pearl rubbed at one of her tentacles, “Awww, Marina. You know I love you.”  
  
“I love you too, Pearl...” Marina sighed, petting the side of Pearl’s soft face “Cod it, still feels like a dream.”  
  
“Well it ain’t. I’m as real as they come, baby,” Pearl cooed, deep in the embrace of her girlfriend, “Real as they come.”

They held each other, long into the night, dreaming of the adventure that would come upon them tomorrow.

**END**


End file.
